


East

by d_aia



Series: Segments [5]
Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Harry as Arthur, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Linear Narrative, POV Kaawa, POV Original Character, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-16 21:52:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4641519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d_aia/pseuds/d_aia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a few months training for Kingsman, Kaawa figured out that, beside the trauma of V-day, there was something… a key element that was missing from the organization.</p>
            </blockquote>





	East

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Characters and locations are not mine.
> 
> Warnings: V-day and its consequences; Military life.
> 
> Last Time on Segments: (Make Him Proud:) Harry lives and Eggsy finally finds out after eight months. Merlin is a paranoid bastard, though he has his reasons and Eggsy's chip on the shoulder may be more justified than Merlin initially thought. Also, Roxy fails to complete a mission, through no fault of her own, and that doesn't make her any less of a badass.
> 
> (Deep Waters:) Roxy's dad was with Valentine, but didn't send her a memo and Roxy's next mission is to arrange it so a young billionaire is a friend for Kingsman. Arthur thinks that Kingsman needs a psychologist (with Merlin's support) and they both worry about Eggsy and a possible hack. Eggsy, for his part, has trust issues.
> 
> (Unknowingly:) Roxy deals with: her father's behavior, betrayal within Kingsman and a new asset (Asha).
> 
> (Pirate:) Eggsy had a less than stellar childhood. Roxy and he bond. And Arthur and Eggsy finally talk. 
> 
> Thank you Alexandra and [red-wasabi89](http://red-wasabi89.tumblr.com/) for letting me bore you with my ideas and thoughts! Also, I owe a big thank you to the people who left kudos or comments! It's most definitely appreciated. Thank you!
> 
> This story is the final installment in the series. I mentioned on tumblr that I had another crises in mind, but it kind of fit in here and I didn't want to take from this story. There may be an epilogue or two, but they won't have anything to add to the series, it would be just tying up loose ends. Also, I cannot write on a schedule to save my life, so I can't tell you when they might written. If they are written at all. I'm sorry!

After a few months training for Kingsman, Kaawa figured out that, beside the trauma of V-day, there was something… a key element that was missing from the organization.

Galahad—Eggsy—was alright. In fact, he was cheerful, sweet, gallant and kind. It wasn’t worth the sky, but it was a definite point in his favor that not only did he not stare; he didn’t appear to consider the prosthetic a disadvantage. His accent told the story of a different upbringing than the suit would have pointed to, but he seemed at ease with his surroundings nonetheless.

Eggsy seemed affectionate towards Merlin, almost tender towards Arthur and warm toward the others. On the way to Arthur, they met the tailor, James, and one of the other agents, Gawain, both greeted him with respect. He must have done something to be on the receiving end of that especially since he was so young. And Arthur, himself, looked like he was going to say something about Kaawa, but then studied Eggsy for some seconds and kept his mouth shut. That was power and Eggsy had it, even if he didn’t seem the type to take advantage, it was something that Kaawa needed to remember.

Merlin brought Kaawa at the house—Eggsy had to go be debriefed since it turned out he went for Kaawa directly after a mission—and silently evaluated him. “You seem to have impressed Eggsy,” Merlin finally said.

“You know him better than me.” Kaawa shrugged.

“I do,” Merlin said calmly. “That’s not the reason for the observation.”

Kaawa sighed. He was starting to get how things worked—at least some of them—and he understood that Eggsy was everyone’s darling. Naturally, Merlin felt protective of him and Kaawa was okay with that. “I don’t know him enough to tell. He impressed _me_ , that’s for sure, I wouldn’t have come so far if he hadn’t been so persuasive. But I can’t say any more. Sure, he’s a puppy, an endearing puppy, I can tell you that and I can _assume_ that he thinks well of me. Other than that…”

Merlin huffed a laugh. “A murderous puppy.”

Nodding, Kaawa agreed silently.

“Good luck,” Merlin said decisively.

*

“Because you almost missed Amelia drowning,” Merlin announced, “teamwork is in order.”

Amelia gave Kaawa a nod. Kaawa gave one back. He didn’t understand what the big deal was; he’d have missed her too if he hadn’t been trained for it. Kaawa wasn’t surprised that the policy was every man for himself. They all competed for the same job, so it was natural. Apparently though, Merlin was pissed by the episode. 

“These puppies will be your partners,” Merlin continued.

“Why?” Loren asked. She was rude, her accent wasn’t polished and she had trust issues to end all trust issues. “So you can make us care about something? Force a connection?” Also, she was absolutely right.

“Leverage,” Justin picked up. His barely perceptible Texan drawl was cause of much derision even though he hadn’t been in the United States since he was fourteen. “Why do you need it?”

“I am not in the habit of being questioned by the candidates,” Merlin said icily.

“You can tell us. We already have an idea,” piped up Kaawa. He got so much grief for his everything that it was approaching the stage where they handed out pitch forks, but then again people had made fun of him for one reason or another his whole life that it wasn’t even worth talking about. And besides, they would have realized that Merlin was up to something. After all, they may not be to each other’s tastes, but they were all competent. “Teamwork,” Kaawa smiled cheerily and tried his hand at a wink.

Glaring, Merlin said through clench teeth, “It needs work.” They both ignored the confused looks from the rest of the candidates. “Gentlemen, pick a dog. I’m guessing my refusal to tell you anything will—if you are as good as advertised—say a lot. Now, be good candidates and accept my refusal to talk about the matter any further.”

Loren made a dismissive gesture and took a step forward.

*

Kaawa was practicing his aim. He would never have a talent for guns, but he’s fought his way through a lot and it gave him more than enough patience and confidence to know how to approach any task. Added to that, the effort he was willing to put in would probably be enough to get him through the job. He had promised he would try his best; no more, no less.

“Good,” Merlin said.  

Kaawa startled and turned to Merlin. Kaawa hadn’t heard Merlin coming. The man’s sudden appearance was mostly likely due to Merlin’s silent walk and Kaawa felt a tiny twinge a jealousy. It just wasn’t possible with a prosthetic leg. When he came face to face with Merlin, Kaawa felt himself straighten. Merlin didn’t look like he was having a good day. He seemed lost in thought as Kaawa’s scores appeared on a screen near his booth.

“Do you know who holds the record in most gun-related tasks?”

“Who?” Kaawa had his suspicions though. “Eggsy?”

“Marksman with both hands,” Merlin confirmed and tried for a smile by the way the corner of his lips gave a twitch, but soon gave up. “Ambidextrous.”

“Is everything okay?” Kaawa asked, concerned.

“No,” Merlin answered shortly. “Follow me, please.”

That was in no way foreboding. The train taking them back to the shop was expected. What wasn’t expected was Merlin continuing onwards and stopping a cab. When they reached a house, Kaawa was starting to worry.

“Why are we here?” Kaawa asked with some trepidation as they made their way up the stairs and Merlin knocked on the front door.

“Everything will be explained to you in due time,” responded Merlin calmly.

Kaawa snorted. “Is that code for ‘kill me’?”

Merlin looked at him like he was a nut. “No,” he said emphatically.

“Mister Taylor, please, come in.” Arthur’s amused voice came from the front door. Kaawa turned and there Arthur was. Maybe a tad run down. A little sad and a bit tired.

Arthur took them to his study and after they were all seated he took a deep breath.

“Mister Taylor,” Arthur began in the awful soft voice, “it saddens me to tell you that the agent responsible for your candidacy, Galahad, is dead.”

Kaawa’s eyes widened. “…No.” He watched both Merlin and Arthur. “No,” he said decidedly.

Arthur smiled. It looked painful. “I know that—”

“ _Eggsy_ , that’s his name, Eggsy is _not_ dead,” Kaawa stressed the words, “because you are here. Telling me that you are sad. And not in some dark room. Wrapped up in a ball. Crying.” His eyes narrowed with rage. “Or alternatively going berserk and killing everyone even remotely responsible.”

“Mister Taylor has a point,” Merlin offered.

“Unless it was you who killed him,” Kaawa continued after ignoring Merlin. “Did you kill him?”

Arthur hesitated. The tension in the room went up a notch. Kaawa jumped from his seat.

“You—” Kaawa accused.

“I didn’t kill him,” Arthur said, like it obvious, “I could never. There _is_ a chance that he may be alive. Actually, at this time, it would be surprising if he were indeed… dead. But…” He hesitated. “Eggsy may be under the impression that the responsible parties are Merlin and, by nature of our friendship and his loyalties, me.”

Kaawa’s mouth opened and closed. “What?!” he finally said.

“We had a security breach,” tried Arthur.

Shaking his head, Kaawa asked, “Why would that make him think tha—”

“It’s entirely my fault,” admitted Merlin in a low voice. “I let my guard down and got hacked.”

“Merlin,” Arthur sent Merlin a warning look, “is overworked. If it’s anybody’s fault is my own because I heaped so much tasks on him. I, on the other hand, am also inclined to believe that it’s no one’s fault. We’ve all been put through the ringer with V-day and we’ve recovered more than most. Something had to crack. Merlin trusted the agency to pick up the slack or at least not to be the one to cause problems. It didn’t rise to his expectation and we have a traitor. It’s the reason we are meeting at my house. I am supposedly very upset.”

Kaawa’s whole face scrounged up. Okay, so they went with the depression theory. That was good, but then he considered how to ask the question without giving anyone ideas.

Merlin said it before Kaawa could, “You are wondering why we trust you.”

“It is our decision that as you are Eggsy’s candidate you make the cut,” said Arthur.

“Being from a different country is a bonus,” admitted Merlin.

“This is what I signed up for,” muttered Kaawa to himself. Arthur gave him a smile. “Okay,” Kaawa said, gathering himself, “so somebody taking the treason on.”

“Yes,” Merlin said definitively.

Watching them both suspiciously, Kaawa asked, “May I know… who?”

“Eggsy,” Arthur beamed.

Kaawa blinked. “Are you sure he’s alive?”

“Almost,” Merlin said.

“And if he’s alive,” Kaawa stifled a hysterical chuckle, “he won’t know you didn’t betray him.”

“That _is_ the situation,” concluded Arthur.

“That is… just…” _batshit insane_ , Kaawa thought, “great.” He sat down again and repeated once again to himself, “ _This_ is what I signed up for; _I_ signed up for this.”

“But if you thought,” Merlin began, “that Arthur might be responsible, why confront him?”

Paranoia was clearly leading Merlin’s thoughts, but as Kaawa imagined was often the case with this job, he made a good point. Once bitten… Well, it was unnecessary, but Merlin couldn’t have known that.

“I already came into your house. You are trained agents. Assassins if the mission calls for it. What was I supposed to do,” Kaawa gestured wildly, “call the police?”

*

“Why,” Justin’s accent was making a comeback in his agitation, “was I the one without ‘chute?”

“If you have something to tell me,” said Merlin and smirked, “you come here and whisper it in my ear.”

Justin snorted, “I don’t think so.”

Rolling his eyes, Merlin said smugly, “You do have a parachute, you just didn’t know it.”

The news took everyone by surprise. There were only three left: Loren, Justin and Kaawa. It was a task that culled about five of the candidates. The false ‘chute gave everyone chills, so they just stood there amazed and blinking. Justin growled and was gone.

“Why would you that?” Kaawa asked as he watched Justin go.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. “Pardon me?”

“What kind of _bloke_ ,” Kaawa said, slowly getting more and more annoyed, “do you have to be to sit there all _smug_ when a group of people fear for—and risk—their lives because they trust him?” He tries to keep his voice low, but, with adrenaline still thrumming though his veins and a colleague’s life endangered, the sounds sharpen nonetheless. “Then you humiliate the last one because he dared to voice his concerns and call you on your crap!”

“You have to be trained,” shrugged Merlin. “If you hate me at the end of it, then so be it.”

“No!” spat Kaawa, furious. He had heard the same line or something similar too many times from righteous superiors or doctors to make something unnecessarily hard to do and it just didn’t hold water. “That is an excuse designed to make you feel no remorse. Oh, you did this for their sakes and they hate you. Woo is you.” Kaawa took a step closer. “Yes, you had to make sure we worked as a team, and yes, you had to see how we work with each other, and yes, you had to weed out those who were scared, and yes, you had every right to do all that. Because it’s your job to train us. Even when you neglected to say that he had a ‘chute when it still could have saved his life and no, you couldn’t have known that Loren would manage to keep a hold of him… you’re right, we _did_ agree to this job and you _did_ say it was dangerous.

“But the training for humiliation is a bit extreme if you really want to do here and it’s done by… you know what, I’m not going to tell you. You know we went through this dog and pony show once. My point is: it isn’t done with one slap on the nose and it isn’t done by you trying to maintain your street cred. That’s not training; that’s you being a prick.”

Kaawa turned and left, not giving Merlin a chance to respond.

*

Kaawa looked at the file with disinterest and a tiny bit of contempt. Kingsman had, as Eggsy said, recently figured out that they might need a psychologist and the selection process was still the same. He felt thankful that Eggsy had been truthful with him because it saved him a lot of frustration. That it was replaced with exasperation was another thing entirely. In the file was their new target, Baron Aaron Devin. The target for a very specific purpose: seduction. Baron Devin was the lucky guy who got to be Casanova’d by a bunch of psychologists. Run, Aaron, run! And anyway, why would they need to seduce someone when they are psychologists? They wouldn’t. So he got right back to the exasperation.

Justin put down the folder with a little more force than necessary. He didn’t exactly slam it, but then again it was pretty thin, so it would have been more amusing than intimidating. Funny, how out of the three candidates left—Loren, Kaawa and Justin—he was the testy one.

“We need to talk,” Justin said somberly.

That sounded weird. Kaawa tilted his head while suppressing a smile, but Loren didn’t see it coming. She gave a bark of laughter, seemingly surprised by it herself. After a wide-eyed pause, she descended into chuckles.

Justin rolled his eyes, “I meant that we,” he said gesturing to Kaawa, Loren and himself, “have decided to offer the psychologist’s perspective while we are all here.”

“There will be time for that after the training is over,” Merlin observed tersely.

“Don’t get your pointy hat in twist Mister Magic.” Loren seemed to try for polite, but Kaawa didn’t think she tried too hard.

“We’ll still get there in time to seduce the Baron,” Kaawa assured.

“We’ll even compete with each other so that the winner will get to grand prize of sleeping with…” Justin said and violently flipped the Baron’s picture, “this guy. Which is a very important part of our job, of course.” Justin finished with a sarcastic smile. 

Merlin took a deep breath. “This will be discussed with the remaining candidate.” He gave an equally sarcastic smile. “After or before the candidate chooses their codename. I’m partial to the name ‘Round Table’, but ‘Guinevere’ has been proposed, too.”

“Who was that, I wonder?” Kaawa asked dryly.  

“Look,” Loren said in a lovely attempt to come back to the point. It was something that shouldn’t surprise Kaawa as much as it did since Loren had proven herself to have a great handle on the human feelings and their intricacies, but somehow it didn’t fit in with her whole manner. But, as he looked around he had to say that they were all… unique. “We’re trying to let you know our opinion, which was formed _separately_ and then _confirmed by the three of us_. In an attempt to show you how important it is, we chose to tell you today so that you don’t feel that the candidate is mistaken, but rather _know_ that it’s the opinion of all of us.”

Merlin stared.

“You’ve, as in the whole of Kingsman, have a big problem.” Justin paused a little. Presumably to think of phrasing, but Kaawa didn’t get his hopes up for a diplomatic approach.

Merlin—or to not make it too personal, Kingsman—did a lot of things that were militaristic in nature. They were centered on humiliating the soldier so that he wouldn’t get arrogant; to avoid getting ahead of himself in a mission and breaking formation or replacing the mission goal for a personal one. It was also good for soldiers to have ingrained to follow orders without second guessing them, a way that goes farther than simply understanding the point. Almost like conditioning.

There were several problems with that however. The first, they all passed through that sort of training once before. Be it in the firefighters, like Kaawa, or in the actual military, like Loren and Justin. Plus, those were really antiquated methods—Kingsman’s were bordering on psychological torture—and these days there were better ways to do it. And, even if Kingsman weren’t aware of them, usually once was enough. There were times when it was done twice, for example when applying for a specialized combat unit. But it had to be said that they didn’t. They applied for a post as a psychologist in a medium risk position. They needed to prove that they could defend themselves and that was it. Being whipped into shape was _not_ necessary.

Even more because, and this is the second problem, they wouldn’t work as part of a team, seeing as they wouldn’t go in the field and they would be the only psychologist in the agency. Maybe work with a psychiatrist or another doctor, but that was a different thing altogether. Team was greatly preached at Kingsman, but it was all in theory. What with how the agents were sent alone on missions or each one with a goal and not in any military formation, that didn’t make any sense. With the part about obeying the boss was covered already, Merlin’s behavior stated to seem even less military in origin and more redundant or even, abusive.

The third, and the final one, was that they were all in their thirties and mostly done with the grunt work, by doing a lot of it and then studying some more to win the privilege of not being subjected to it. Merlin made it seem like it had all been for nothing and for no apparent reason too. That pissed them off.

So, yes, Kaawa wasn’t expecting much in the way of diplomacy from Justin who had just about reached the end of his rope.

“Your problem is that the agents have no reason for their continued loyalty to Kingsman,” Justin stated.

Merlin’s face did… something—a lot of somethings actually that flashed by so fast that Kaawa couldn’t tell them apart—before becoming blank.

“Let’s remember why we’re here.” Loren’s voice gained a croon in the last five seconds, but Kaawa had to give it to her, it was calming.

“Reasons for joining the military or a secret service,” said Kaawa, following Loren’s cue and stating to count them on his fingers. “One, financial stability; two, a family; three, patriotism; four, and this is mainly in time of war, the need to protect; five, status; six, the need to prove something… and seven, I suppose something we didn’t consider.” He tilted his head, thinking it through again.

“Anyway,” Loren said, in her new role as the most mature person in the room. Or, no, she was always level-headed when they were finally discussing psychology. “We covered the most obvious ones. Kaawa even thought about the unexpected. Now we explain our theory.”

“Fine, so we take the usual candidates for this because Galahad doesn’t exactly fit,” Kaawa started. Then stopped and thought. “Not that the theory doesn’t apply to him.”

Loren sighed. “Kaawa is very detail-oriented.”

“So, financial stability is not a reason, because everybody has more than enough,” Justin said calmly, putting down Kaawa’s fingers as he went. “Neither is patriotism because Kingsman doesn’t have government supervision or owe support to any country. Status wouldn’t count as a reason because even though we suppose the British upper class kind of know about Kingsman, to the rest of the world, it still says tailor on the business card. The need to prove to themselves that they can get into Kingsman is not something that would keep the loyalty at a constant high. As for the other things they can prove to themselves and the remaining two reasons, Kingsman doesn’t offer something that the police, military and many other agencies don’t, so the need to protect and the family are all covered.”

“Kingsman did a great job, in theory,” Loren assured in a way that was not at all reassuring. Kaawa could tell that she was struggling to keep her tone from being condescending, because he felt and had felt the appeal too. It was tempting to use what he knew best as weapons against the agency, especially if that knowledge meant that they were inferior in some way. But psychologists didn’t do that and Loren knew that as well as Kaawa did. “You really did a great job with the suits,” Loren went on, “and the codenames, and the glasses, and the manners. But what with the confidentiality of your missions, the fact that the agents aren’t allowed to talk to those close to them about their day to day activities and in light of recent—V-day—events, we think you might consider getting your agents closer.”

Kaawa smiled as gently as he knew how. “You and Galahad seemed to have a great relationship. We think you can use that as an example.”

“Well,” Merlin seemed shaken, but trying to regain his balance, “I will take it under advisement. I’ll also inform Arthur, while you ‘Round Table’ contenders start seducing Baron Devin.”

Loren slid lower in her chair. “Joy!” she said fake cheerfully.

*

“Tell me!”

Kaawa stayed silent. His eyes flicked from place to place in panic. He desperately tried to find a way to escape. The train got louder and louder. He started trembling, but he didn’t stop trying to escape. In fact, he couldn’t stop. He wasn’t the kind of person that knew when to quit. The noise was at a terrifying level, the train was closer and closer, the vibrations thudding in his chest stealing his breath, when he felt himself going down. For a few breathless seconds he didn’t know what was happening, the train thundering above him. Then he forcefully released a breath. By the time the train had passed, he was trying to convince his heart to slow down.

“Very well done, Mister Taylor,” Arthur congratulated him. “I am here in Galahad’s place to offer my support.”

“What just hap—” Kaawa interrupted himself. He lightly shook his head and offered, “Thank you?”

*

“I can’t believe this! You know what, fine!” Justin shouted. “Lancelot’s name is Roxanne Morton.” Justin pulled on the ropes a bit. “Merlin is a dick!”

“He knows,” said Kaawa, shaking his head. “He figured it out.”

Arthur eyes narrowed. “So he’s quitting the Kingsman as dramatically as possible.”

Kaawa shrugged. Arthur rolled his eyes. Then there two…

*

“Fuck you! I hope I’m right and these are blanks,” Kaawa said and shot his flesh foot.

“They are,” Arthur admitted after Kaawa’s leg was still intact. “Though you were not the intended target.”

“I just hope I got you in time to prevent a trauma.” Kaawa put the gun on the table. “It’s just the two of us, so if I shot first that means that Loren doesn’t have to, right?”

Arthur nodded. “Loren?”

“Don’t get me wrong, she would. But she loves that dog.” Kaawa sighed. “She tried not to, but… Animals don’t do betrayal very well.”

“You know Eggsy couldn’t shoot the dog,” said Arthur with a fond smile. “I gave him a lot of grief about that.”

Kaawa titled his head. “How come he’s an agent then?”

“V-day happened,” said Arthur. “He still can’t shoot animals, but it turns out that killing people is not that difficult.”

“He’s full of contradictions,” Kaawa observed. “Or does he learn fast?”

“He does both quite well.” Arthur’s lips curled in a fond smile. “He thinks I blew a man’s head and that’s harsh. Then he turns around and blows up hundreds.”

Kaawa laughed a little. “So… Am I out?”

Arthur paused. “Do you want to be?”

“No,” Kaawa said with a confused smile. “Is this about what we said? That’s just three psychologists afraid that you’d discount our individual opinion while trying to raise an alarm in such a manner that you would believe it.”

“So you _want_ to work with people who don’t respect you?”

Kaawa laughed. “We’re military psychologists. I’d be more suspicious if you were welcoming and trusting. But, yes, the training… left an impression.”

“Not a very good one. Understood.” Arthur nodded. “About the task, it was supposed to test if you were ready to kill someone you care about on Kingsman orders. I suppose that asking for trust without offering any would make up for you not shooting the dog and aiming the gun on you instead. I also gather that it reflects how you are going to behave in a similar situation. It is not what we expect from our agents, but perhaps it should be for our psychologist. Maybe the whole system needs to change. I don’t know. You are going to have a lot of work ahead of you, I’m afraid.”

Blinking slowly, Kaawa scratched at his chin. “Can you expand on that?”

“Loren shot the dog, then quit.” Arthur shook his head lightly. “Apparently, she needed to prove to herself that she could qualify for Kingsman, but this isn’t the career she had in mind.”

“That _does_ sound like her,” Kaawa chuckled lightly. “What about Galahad? Can you give me any details?”

“I can and I will, just as soon as you agree to be part of the Kingsman,” Arthur said. “I am not going to divulge anymore related to Kingsman, Mister Taylor. But I will tell you this: Galahad was right. We do need you.”

Kaawa took a deep breath. “I accept. And because my skill set is somewhat unknown to you, I don’t promise to succeed. It’s not really up to me. My successes are their successes under my guidance. I can only observe and offer perspective.” He offered Arthur a smile. “However, I promise to do my best.”

“It’s enough.” Arthur smiled back. “Welcome to Kingsman…”

“Morgana,” Kaawa said with a smirk.

“Welcome to Kingsman, Morgana!”

*

_Kaawa looked up from where he was sitting on Arthur’s couch and saw Eggsy enter._

_“You made it!” Eggsy said brightly._

_“I did,” said Kaawa. “I promised I’d do my best.”_

_Eggsy threw his arms around Kaawa. “Thank you.” He took a step back. “Kaawa, let me introduce you to another friend of mine, Roxy.”_

“We are gathered here today to discus matters of great importance for the organization,” Arthur said steadily. “Most of you know that Galahad at the moment of his… demise suspected that there was a mole inside Kingsman.”

“Another one, you mean,” Mordred said apathetically.

“Yes,” Arthur conformed, seemingly unperturbed by the comment. “We have a rogue agent—Lancelot—who chose to break off connection with Kingsman following the incident.”

“Smart girl,” said Gawain without inflection.

Arthur gave a noncommittal nod. “There are some among us who consider the two incidents related.” He made a pause and shared a look with Merlin. “That Lancelot may be the mole.”

Tristan’s eyes immediately flew to Percival, just in time to see his face darken.

“Is that an accusation?” asked Percival coldly.

“It is a statement of facts, Percival,” said Merlin dismissively.

“They would be wrong,” continued Arthur, smoothing ruffled feathers as he went. “The two are related, but Lancelot is not the mole. She is hunting for it. Several months ago I have made contact myself and determined that she was the best person for this particular mission. We all know that she cared for Galahad, but she is also not the sort of person who lets sentiment rule over rationality.” He broke into a smile. “She found it and is now here to show her results. Merlin,” Arthur invited.

Merlin clicked something on his pad and the door opened. First came in Lancelot, as expected. That there was somebody else not far behind was designed to be a surprise.

“Who missed me?” Eggsy asked cheerfully.

_“Gawain and Mordred are the most affected,” Kaawa said. “And unfortunately I cannot predict with any sort of certainty what they’ll do. They could go all berserk, they could freeze, they could do both or they could do neither. There no way to tell.” He shook his head. “In fact, I am surprised you still let them in the field.”_

_“Not so much lately,” Arthur said, in that calm way he had. “Does that mean that you can make a prediction regarding the others?”_

_Kaawa looked down at the files, the footage and the notes in front of him. He huffed and answered, “Yes. I can tell with a fair degree of certainty what will happen when you put traumatized agents in a highly stressful situation. It’s a little like cornering an injured animal. Most of them will attack.”_

“Fuck!” Gawain shouted and, from a blink to the next, he stood up and went for his gun.

Mordred, grabbing a handful of his own hair, let his head fall on the desk. The rest were slower to reach for their guns, but they were keeping their eyes on Roxy and Eggsy. Taking advantage of their diverted attention, Arthur activated the newly-designed security measures in the chairs. The idea was to capture without harming. Sure enough, the chairs swelled up, effectively trapping the agents. That, of course, only served to enrage Gawain further and he took aim.

The first shot landed where Eggsy’s head used to be. But he was long gone, rolling in a tuck on the floor away from the door. Roxy was sliding over the table towards Gawain with quick movements. The second shot landed somewhere in the ceiling, making plaster rain over a grumpy Lamorak. Gawain and Roxy were already wrestling over the gun. The third shot didn’t manage to go off because a green tranquilizer dart had struck Gawain. Eggsy had regained his feet and had rejoined the fight. He pressed a button and shot Mordred with a red one. Roxy caught Gawain, who seemed to have some balance issues, and carefully helped him take a seat. Eggsy gently guided Mordred into sitting up. Both Gawain and Mordred were drugged but conscious. It warmed Kaawa’s heart to find that their features relaxed into something resembling peacefulness. Even if the delivery was less than ideal; not to mention consent, which was non-existent. Kaawa sighed. Eggsy and Roxy looked around, then glanced at each other and nodded.

“All clear,” Eggsy and Roxy said, forming one eerie voice.

“Good,” Arthur said. He, for all intents and purposes, looked calm. As if he didn’t have most of his audience _literarily_ captured. “Now, if you two would please take your seats.”

Both Eggsy and Roxy nodded. They moved at the same time to slide into their respective chairs. Kaawa shook his head. It was downright creepy.

“Now, I will review with the rest of the agents what you have discovered,” Arthur began anew. “I must admit that we—Merlin and I—have been sitting on this information for a week. The information was such that I feared for Kinsman’s future. So I waited until I could consult our new psychologist, Morgana.”

Kaawa felt the weight of their collective glares. And they were good, but he wasn’t doing anything outside his job. Even if the looks he got were vicious, he had a lot of practice in handling negative reactions. He didn’t agree with a lot of things: starting with lighting a fire under everybody’s ass with this meeting and ending with the drugged agents, but he didn’t make the plans and he, since he barely started three whole days ago, he had little wiggle room.  Kaawa raised eyebrows.  He wasn’t apologetic, but he wasn’t challenging either.

Arthur gave a small smile, before turning serious. He continued, his voice sober, “The news is troubling; the information, damning; the series of events, unprecedented… It seems you are all guilty of _mutiny_.”

 

_“All of them?” asked Arthur, obviously barely holding on to his control._     

_“Yes, Harry. All,” answered Eggsy as gently as possible, but considering the news, Kaawa could see it wasn’t enough. “I mean, probably Mordred or/and Gawain gave up their log-ins and just fucked off.” Eggsy shrugged._

_“Somebody probably realized that the only way Merlin wouldn’t notice is if most of the agents participated and the both of them did,” Roxy said. She was much more matter-of-fact. “At least electronically.”_

_Merlin gripped the pad tightly with bloodless knuckles, eyes flying over the evidence. “A shell game.”_

_“Sort of,” Roxy said. “Or no, that’s exactly it. Divert attention, keep the pieces moving. One agent is looking for information on his mission, another is withdrawing some money, another is looking up PTSD, and yet another one is talking to a friend. The first one told the information to the forth, the third one is leaking said information and the second is the distraction. Shell game; yes, that is exactly it.”_

_Arthur was visibly fighting to maintain calm. “I presume you suspicions regarding the leader or you wouldn’t have returned.”_

_“Yes, there’s two,” Eggsy said, his voice grim. “But get this!”_

_Roxy smirked coldly. “They don’t appear to have the same objective.”_

“And what is more—the part that I take personally—you aren’t even consistent in what you want,” said Arthur. The tension was audible in his voice. “Are you aware that you are not working towards the same things? There are two teams, as far as we could tell: Lamorak, Gareth, Kay with their would-be leader Tristan; and Geraint, Bors, Bedevire with their would-be leader Percival. We are unclear as to an affiliation for Mordred and Gawain. Probably against Kingsman… I will hear your explanation gentlemen for the next five minutes and five minutes only.”

“The world needs to know,” Tristan said and the words seem to punch out of him. “They all need to know that somewhere there is an organization that stops these kinds of international threats—like Valentine—that are considered a problem for governments. Kingsman needs to _step up_.”

“No, it _doesn’t_.” Percival didn’t raise his voice, but it didn’t make his words any less passionate. “What we need to do, more than ever, is to go back to the shadows and resolve problems from there. We have come too close to the light.”

“And Galahad?” Arthur asked with a clenched jaw.

“He needs to die,” Percival said regretfully. “We owe him a great debt, one that is only going to increase with his death by our hands. But it is the only way. The truth is: too many people have seen him.”

In danger of turning his chair over, Tristan brutally fought to free himself. “What are you talking about? He stopped you from killing that child! The blond one, remember, with the pink-fucking-ribbons!” Percival wouldn’t meet his eyes, so Tristan squirmed even more. “We will _not_ do _anything_ to cause him harm. Besides, he is our way to show the world that we can handle the responsibility; that they can trust us with the world.”

“And if he’s dead,” said Percival quietly, “then your plan is in ruins and we’d have to follow mine.”

Eyes wide with… horror—betrayal?—Tristan paused a bit. He renewed his efforts and finally crashed the chair to the floor. “You prick! You _utter_ prick!”

For a minute, only Tristan’s struggles were heard in the room.

“I think that went well,” Eggsy said cheerfully.

“Really?” Arthur asked dryly. “What part are you referring to?”

“We have a plan,” Eggsy announced grandly.

It was enough to stop Tristan’s trashing.

Roxy tempered Eggsy’s enthusiasm, saying, “It’s a proposal.”

“Fine.” Eggsy rolled his eyes. “So, you know how I don’t _really_ fit in? How I can’t just forget my life because I learned a lot from it? And how Kingsman agency can’t be a global agency because the world is not made up of rich, old, white guys? From Great Britain?”

Kaawa snorted.

“And yes, it’s slowly diversifying,” said Roxy. “But not fast enough. And even there is another type of Kingsman agent, one different from the mold, there are some things that may take a while.”

“People suck, basically,” concluded Eggsy. “And we don’t have time for them to change their minds. So, I was plan— _proposing_ that we expand one wing globally to people from wide range of backgrounds and with varied expertise. I will take responsibility for it. Parkour, free runners, thieves, grifters, drivers, anything I can get my hands on. We’ll name them after Snow White’s dwarfs or after Santa’s reindeer. I look for them, Kaawa and I train them to be a team, Lancelot will be the middle man. How about it?”

Arthur seemed to be proud and sad.

 

_Kaawa would have liked to be anywhere but where he was when Eggsy announced his plan.  Proposal, whatever. On the one side, Kaawa was right and there was something going on between Eggsy and Arthur. On the other side, Kaawa tried to make himself invisible since Arthur looked as if he had been struck. No, even worse. He looked devastated._

_“Why?” Arthur’s question was barely heard. “Are…Is…” He took a deep breath and said with more force. “Why?”_

_“Because I don’t think what I am is a weakness?” Eggsy answered with a sarcastic question. “Fine, I had a lot to learn and still have, but being another person entirely doesn’t exactly mean you’ve grown. It just means you don’t like who you are and… I do.”_

_Arthur shook his head. “Of course you do.” And it was truly amazing how it didn’t sound patronizing. “I do too.” Ah, that was how._

_“It’s like you said, Harry,” Eggsy said. “The accent doesn’t make you a gentlemen but you **have** to be better than you were yesterday.”_

_Arthur smiled and blinked, looking a little overwhelmed like Eggsy paid him a huge compliment._

_“And the thing is…” Eggsy hesitated, “I don’t think I would be better than the man I was yesterday if I just change everything about how I look and behave. That’s not where the change should be.” He took a deep breath. “I needed my eyes open and you did. But once I opened them, I saw a different…road for me.”_

_“I… I am starting to understand, I believe,” Arthur said kindly. He continued in a voice so soft and intimate that made Kaawa wish he wasn’t listening, “That is what you decided for yourself and I would be an ass if I took that away from you. You know what you want to do, do it. I’ll be right here if you need me.”_

_Eggsy smiled softly, “I… appreciate that.” He lifted his hand to Arthur’s cheek and said brightly, “And you know what? Now you won’t be my boss, you’ll be my colleague and partner.”_

_“Wait a second,” Arthur said gravely, though he was struggling not to smile, “when said a ‘global wing’ and ‘taking responsibility for it’, you actually meant creating another agency under the already—and recently—known Kingsman, thus protecting Kingsman, me, Roxy and you in one fell swoop; reshuffling some relationships, changing some things and bringing new money.”_

_Grinning mischievously, Eggsy said, “Pretty much.”_

_Arthur raised his eyebrow, an expression of wonder was unfurling slowly under Eggsy’s soft chuckles._

If Kaawa were honest, most of the agents hovered around surprise with hilarious expression. There was surprised-horrified, to the right was surprised-excided, to the left was surprised-sad and there where some of surprised-pondering. And if Eggsy’s Cheshire-grin got any bigger, it would spilt his face.

“Lancelot?” Merlin asked quietly.

“The funding is already arranged,” Roxy said refusing to comment any further.

“I’d like to warmly suggest, before any of you decide anything, to visit me and schedule some time to talk,” Kaawa piped up. “There will be enough time for decisions after.”

Arthur nodded firmly. “As we are, we cannot function. So I propose we cease our activities, barring any major events. Take two months, heal, think, talk, mingle and then we’ll be back here to make a decision. Are we agreed?”

“Agreed,” said a chorus of voices. Even Tristan, who Eggsy helped up with a pat on the back and a ‘thanks guv’. But not all.

“One more thing, before I agree,” said Mordred and smiled dopily. Which was why no body saw him reach for the gun until two bullets had been fired, one in each of Percival’s shoulders, and the resounding echo in Kaawa’s ears. A low whine could be heard from Percival. Mordred sneered, “It will heal in two months. But, _the lesson_ , that is supposed to stay: the boy stopped it. I am grateful to him and will not take lightly any attempts on his life. In fact, I will hold you personally responsible.”

Percival huffed. “How am I supposed to just—”

Mordred’s face slid back into a smile. “I guess you’ll have to watch his back.”

And that, as they say, was that. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I appreciate all of you who have been with me since the start of this series and know that you have my gratitude. If you want to comment (or just talk to me) you can do it here or on my [tumblr](http://e-alexandrescu.tumblr.com/).


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